The use of citations in APA Style helps differentiate your ideas and work from that of another author or authors. Throughout your academic career here at Sofia, you will be asked to write APA-style papers and utilize evidence from outside sources to support your assertions. It is an excellent way to bring greater credibility to your work while acknowledging the work of other authors. The use of citations also demonstrates our professionalism and your comprehensive research to make your assertions more convincing.
The two most important elements in citing another's work are the name(s) of the author(s) and the date of the publication. Presenting another author or author's idea(s) in your own words while still acknowledging the original work requires the citation and reference process in APA Style.
Citing in this format can be either parenthetical or narrative. Please consider the examples below:
Sample Original Quote:
"Mindfulness is often encouraged by psychologists in the field of transpersonal study as one of the cornerstones of a transpersonal practice." (Jones, 2018)
OR
Jones (2018) stated, "Mindfulness is often encouraged by psychologists in the field of transpersonal study as one of the cornerstones of a transpersonal practice."
The first example of an original quote above is considered "parenthetical," and the second is considered "narrative" in style.
Parenthetical Paraphrase:
Most transpersonal psychologists promote mindfulness (Jones, 2018).
When using the parenthetical, you will always place the citation after the last sentence in the paraphrase, not at the end of the paragraph. In other words, the paraphrase can be embedded in a paragraph with your own words or sentences to follow. Or, if you are paraphrasing throughout the paragraph from the same author, you only need to parenthetically cite the first sentence of the paragraph. Parenthetical citations are normally used to point more to a particular idea within a work. Also, notice that the period is always placed after the close parenthesis and not at the end of the phrase.
Narrative:
Jones (2018) asserts that most transpersonal psychologists promote mindfulness.
Narrative citations are normally used to point more to a larger body of work rather than a specific part or idea from that work. In the narrative citation style, the author's name appears within the sentence with the year of the publication in parenthesis directly after it. If the following sentences of the paragraph are paraphrased from the same author, you do not need to cite the following sentences until the next paragraph.
There are some slight differences in citing when there is more than one author. Please note these differences below:
Two Authors:
P: Most transpersonal psychologists promote mindfulness (Jones & Brown, 2018). Notice the use of the "&" symbol.
N: Jones and Brown (2018) assert that most transpersonal psychologists promote mindfulness. Notice the word "and" spelled out.
Three or more authors
P: Most transpersonal psychologists promote mindfulness (Jones et al., 2018).
N: Jones et al. (2018) assert that most transpersonal psychologists promote mindfulness.
Note: The first time you use three or more authors in a paper, you should use all the authors' last names with commas between instead of et al. to be clear about which reference you are shortening with et al.
When paraphrasing, you can still use some words or phrases from the author(s) as long as you always encapsulate those words or phrases within quotation marks. When in doubt, it is best to use quotation marks if you are unsure if you have a significant departure from the original word or phrase. For example,
Several transpersonal psychologists have stated that "mindfulness is often encouraged" (Jones, 2018, p. 143). Notice the addition of the page number when directly quoting. More direct quotes will be presented in the next section.
In summary, please remember some of these main points to avoid accidental plagiarism when paraphrasing:
For more information, review this video: